840 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part IIL 



p. 131.) During the frequent and heavy falls of rain and snow in winter, there is scarcely any land so 

 dry as not to be injured by the treading of heavy cattle ; and were there any thing gained in this respect by 

 this management, it would be much more than counterbalanced by the loss of a great part of the manure, 

 from the same cause. The able writer to whom we have just now referred, very properly disapproves of 

 carting on manure in winter; and for the same reason, namely, the loss.of it, which must necessarily be 

 the consequence, he ought to have objected to foddering on the land, or teathing at that season. The 

 practice, however, is but too common in those districts, both in South and North Britain, where the 

 knowledge of correct husbandry has made but little progress. It is equally objectionable, whether the 

 fodder be consumed on meadows where it grew, or on other grass lands. The fodder should, in almost 

 every instance, be eaten in houses or fold-yards, instead of the dung being dropped irregularly over the 

 surface ; or, as must be almost always the case, accumulated in some spots sheltered by trees and hedges, 

 to which the animals necessarily resort during the storms of winter. 



5247. The time of stocking pastures in spring, must evidently be earlier or later, ac- 

 cording to the climate, and in the same climate according to the season ; and the state of 

 growth, vi^hich it is desirable that the grass should attain before being stocked, must 

 in some degree be determined by the condition and description of the animals to be 

 employed in consuming it ; whether they are only in a growing state or approaching to 

 fatness ; whether milk cows or sheep, or a mixture of animals of different species. It 

 conveys no very precise idea respecting these points, though the remark itself is just, to say 

 that the herbage should not be allowed to rise so high as to permit the coarser plants to 

 run to seed ; and that it is bad management to suffer store stock to be turned upon a full 

 bite. iMarshaVs Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 129.) The great objects to be aimed at are, that 

 the stock, of whatever animals it may consist, should be carried forward faster or slower, 

 according to the purposes of their owner ; and that no part of the herbage should be 

 allowed to run to waste, or be unprofitably consumed. But nothing but careful inspec- 

 tion of the land and of the stock, from time to time, can enable any grazier to judge with 

 certainty what are the best measures for attaining these objects. " Fatting cattle," says 

 Marshal, " which are forward in flesh, and are intended to be finished with grass, may 

 require a full bite at first turning out. But for cows, working oxen, and rearing cattle, 

 and lean cattle intended to be fatted on grass, a full bite at the first turning out is not 

 requisite. Old Lady-day to the middle of April, according to the progress of spring, 

 appears to me, at present, as the best time for shutting up mowing grounds and opening 

 pastures." [MarshaVs Yorkshire, vol. li. p. 152, 153.) 



5248. In regard to the state of the growth of pastures when first stocked, some distinction should be made 

 between new leys and old close swards. To prevent the destruction of the young plants, whether of 

 clover or other herbage, on the former description of pasture, which would be the consequence of stocking 

 them too early, especially with sheep, they should be allowed to rise higher than would be necessary in the 

 case of old turf; and to secure their roots from the further injury of a hot summer, it is advisable not to 

 feed them close in the early part of the season, and probably not at any time throughout the whole of 

 the first or second season, if the land is to be continued in pasture. The roots of old and firm sward, on the 

 other hand, are not in so much danger, either from close feeding or from the heats of summer ; and they 

 are in much less danger from the frosts and thaws of winter. 



5249. With regard to the stock which should beemploycdy all soils rather moist and of such a quality, as is 

 the case with rich clays, as to produce herbage suited to the fattening of cattle, will, in general, be more 

 advantageously stocked with them than with sheep ; but there can be no other rule for the total exclusion 

 of sheep, than the danger of the rot; nor any other general rule for preferring one kind of stock to 

 another, than their comparative profits. {Sup. art. Agr^ 



5250. Whether the stock should be all of one or of different kinds, is anotheriquestion to 

 be discussed. With regard to a mixed stock, the sentiments and practice of the best 

 graziers seem to be in its favor. *' It is generally understood that horses and cattle in- 

 termixed will eat grass cleaner than any species will alone, not so much from their 

 separately affecting different grasses, as from the circumstance of both species disliking to 

 feed near their own dung." {Marshal's Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 154.) " Some few graziers 

 follow the old custom of keeping only one kind of stock upon the same ground, whilst 

 others, we think, with more propriety, intermix with oxen and cows a few sheep, and two 

 or three colts in each pasture, which both turn to good account, and do little injury to the 

 grazing cattle. In some cases sheep are a real benefit, by eating down and destroying the 

 ragwort {Senecio jacobcea), which disgraces some of the best pastures of the county, where 

 oxen only are grazed. " (^Northumberland Beport, p. 126. ) And in Lincolnshire, where 

 grazing is followed to a great extent, and with uncommon success, as well as in most 

 other districts, the practice seems to be almost invariably, to keep a mixed stock of sheep 

 and cattle on the same pasture (^Lincolnshire Report, p. 174.), in proportion varying with 

 the nature of the soil and the quality of the herbage. 



5251. To estimate the number of ariimals that may be depastured on any given extent of ground, 

 is oviously impossible, without reference to the particular spot in question ; and the same difi'erence 

 existi with regard to the propriety of feeding close, or leaving the pastures rough, that prevails in 

 most other parts of this subjtct. Though there be loss in stocking too sparingly, the more common and 

 dangerous error is in overstocking, by which the summer's grass is not unfrequently entirely lost. 



5252. With respect to the size of enclosures, small fields are much to be preferred to 

 large ones, for heavy stock. Besides the advantages of shelter, both to the animals and 

 the herbage, small fields enable the grazier either to separate his stock into small parcels, 

 by which means they feed more at their ease, or to give the best pastures to that portion 

 of them which he wishes to come earliest to inarket. The advantages of moderate sized 

 enclosures are well known in the best grazing counties ; but the subdivisions are in some 



